The traditional interpretation was that soldiers spent all of their time in horrific conditions which they constantly experienced and they feared the factor of being sent ‘Over the top’ and that trenches were full of rats, lice and disease. This is
Trench Warfare World War One was a horrific event, the number of known dead sits at about eight million people. The main method of combat during the first world war, also known as the Great World War, was trench warfare. Trenches were dug mainly to protect troops, but ended up being one of the major reasons so many men died. These men had to live through miserable times, daily life was filled with horror, and death. Death was a constant companion to those serving in the line, even when they weren't under attack, many would die of disease.
The first technique that I will be discussing is rhetorical question. A rhetorical question is a question asked for effect that neither expects nor requires an answer in the poem Exposure there two rhetorical questions and they both go back to Owens hatred of war the first quote is “what are we doing here?” even though the soldiers know they are here to fight for the war they have started to question it due to the fact that they are now facing a new war on which they dislike very much, this new war is the war against the weather the other rhetorical question is “is it that we are dying? ” during the war the soldiers wanted out of the war so badly the wanted to die. The hatred they felt for he war was flowing through there veins “but nothing happened” they were freezing cold and getting shot at by the enemy who would not want out of that? The next technique that I will be showing is repetition.
World War I brought many new ideas and different concepts that would either benefit or cause major consequences throughout the war. This was the time of the incredibly dreadful “Trench warfare”. Roden simply placed a picture in our mind by saying “We have had another terrible week of it in the trenches.” These trenches were used as a protective barrier between their enemy and No-Mans Land. Not only did the trenches provide protection, it also brought many other deadly factors such as diseases, rodents, and unfit living conditions. Lice was a very common problem that would terrorize every soldier that would spend time in the trenches.
Both poems use nightmare underwater imagery, in ‘Dulce...’ Owen describes a soldier as he starts “drowning” under a “green sea” when he is overcome by gas. This creates a disturbing psychological image for the reader and conveys how toxic the gas was. Similarly, in ‘The Sentry’ the soldier’s body is described as “sploshing in the flood”, this representation conveys the harsh environment the soldiers had to live in. Repetition is also used in both poems. In ‘The Sentry’, the repetition of “I’m blind” helps give a sense of the increasing distress of the soldier as he realises he has lost his sight.
It is barbaric, awful and a terrible waste of human life. The rain is constantly flooding the trenches and turning the floor into mud, it is so bad that many of the men are getting open sores on their feet, they call it trench foot and they can hardly walk because of the pain. Life here is gruesome. Yesterday I saw my friend, Michael Phellps, die right in front of me because he had lost his gas mask and the enemy's gas was everywhere in the air. We couldn't do anything but watch him die, screaming for help.
I see men begging to have their feet removed, the flesh on their feet rotting away because of the chronic wet conditions in the trenches. I see the dozens of dead bodies of my fallen brethren accumulating in the trenches because it is too dangerous most times to give them a proper burial. I close my eyes today and still cannot escape the sounds of war–the constant gunfire, tank blasts, and the screams of men. I still see enemy soldiers overtaken by mustard gasses, blood streaming from their eyes and mouths and their desperate gasps for air. I remain inspired by my brothers, for we soldiers are able to keep our spirits high despite these conditions.
Wilfred Owen said “my subject is war, and the pity of war. The poetry is in the pity’”. The three poems I wish to explore portray Owen’s pity towards men going through the First World War. ‘The Send-off’ shows anonymous men who are about to depart to the battlefront, ‘Dulce et Decorum est’ explores trench life and, ‘Disabled’ charts the legacy of war on the wounded. ‘The send -off’, shows Owen’s cynical attitude towards war.
O’Brien writes “They carried all the emotional baggage of men who might die. Grief, terror, love, longing-these were intangibles, but intangibles has their own mass and specific gravity, they had tangible weight.” (108) Death changes a solder. Cross’s solders all told jokes after the death of Ted Lavender. This was their way of making themselves deal with the loss of a close friend and soldier. “Zapped while zipping” (107) is what they all said because Lavender died while returning from going to the bathroom.
Wilfred Owen’s poem ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ describes a particular scene in the lives of WWI soldiers. Owen opens the poem with a description of the soldiers who are ‘Bent double, like old beggars’ (line 1). The soldiers are tired, fatigued, their feet are bleeding; they are marching from the battlefield towards their camp for some rest. They are then attacked by poisonous gas, effects of which are similar to drowning. One of the soldiers fails to fit the gas mask in time, and Owen masterfully describes himself witnessing the soldier’s gruesome death.